music and spirituality

[Dis]

What is it about the human brain that appreciates these things? It hardly seems useful to survival, so I can't see how they evolved.

Why is music so moving? Sometimes when I listen to music I can achieve natural highs. I'm not sure what causes that.

I have read an article on how music affects stroke vicitims. These are people so paralyzed (by lack of brain function) that they cannot show emotion; yet when exposed to music they can break down in tears. Why would a separate region of the brain be devoted to something that has no practical value?

And I do think music relates to spirituality. I do believe they are similar in some way with regards to how they affect the human state.

Why are people spiritual? Why is it nearly every civilization or tribe of some sort have burial ceremonies of some sort and some form of superstition?

How has the human brain evolved this way?

In any case I'm not sure if anyone knows these answers. Just discuss what music moves you the most. Post stories about that if you wish.

On a side note, because of the rampant spirituality, how does this explain the modern athiest movement? How spiritual are athiests? I ask this of you, athiest apolytoners. What arouses your deeper brain functions?

[Lincoln]

Evolution made people like music because it figured that they could sell recordings and get rich. Therefore the brain decided to play along and steal the music so it could try to compete with the greedy capitalists that were selling the recordings. Only the fittest survive in the end.

See. Evolution has all the answers!

My real opinion is that music IS a spiritual medium. Of course you have more than one spirit, eg., the drums of voodo and the beautiful works of Brahms

[Zero]

Re: music and spirituality

Originally posted by Dissident
What is it about the human brain that appreciates these things? It hardly seems useful to survival, so I can't see how they evolved.

not just music. Any kind of art would fall into the description.

[DaShi]

That's why a lot of Christian organizations will play music for a young, hip crowd. A lot of the teenagers confuse their hormones and the influence of the music on them with the spirit of God flowing through them.

The real feeling of the spirit of God flowing through you is more like sticking your finger in a Christmas tree lightbulb socket.

[Ben Kenobi]

That's why a lot of Christian organizations will play music for a young, hip crowd. A lot of the teenagers confuse their hormones and the influence of the music on them with the spirit of God flowing through them.

And here I thought teenagers enjoy contemporary music during the worship.

We can't ever come out ahead, can we Da Shi.

[gunkulator]

Originally posted by Lincoln
My real opinion is that music IS a spiritual medium. Of course you have more than one spirit, eg., the drums of voodo and the beautiful works of Brahms

I think Lincoln is right. If there is spiritualism, its sound is embodied in what we call music. Music is an innately human endeavor and there are as many different kinds of music as there are gods. Mankind invents that which pleases him spiritually.

[Buck Birdseed]

Don't make the mistake of believing us humanists are not spiritual. What unearthly magic could be more moving than the spirit of a whole crowd of varying people sharing in a common feeling? Why need a single point of certainty when you can be exhillirated by a million souls bustling around you, a marvellously proportioned painting, a really good deed? What's wrong with the spirit of human achievement, the spirit of togetherness, the spirit of friendship?

And yes, I've had many, many intensely spiritual moments in music, from total crowd connection and worship at rock concerts to small shivers of exctacy while listening to music at home, all produced purely by sound and other sensory imput.

Surely, if sound can produce complete spiritual abandonment, mere simple vibrations in air, then surely that if anything is proof that God does not exist or at least doesn't need to exist? Nothing complex or all-encompassing is needed to bring forth this wondrous human experience! If I don't need more than a slight vibrato on Darlene Love's voice to lose control of my body, what is to say religion is not down to an equally naturalistic explanantion?

[*End Is Forever*]

Hear, hear...

[*End Is Forever*]

Bloody hell, I'm agreeing with Johan...

[St Leo]

It hardly seems useful to survival, so I can't see how they evolved.

Pattern recognition. It is good for our survival for us to recognize patterns, so evolution has blessed us with the ability to enjoy such recognition.

[Giant_Squid]

What about....we know the human brain works on principles of "vibrations" (brain waves). We know it's possible to influence the brain in certain ways by artificial vibrations that the brain then starts working with - for example, I sometimes use an interesting program called bwgen which claims to artifically create desired brainwave patterns by using standard computer headphones to pump sounds of varying frequencies into both ears. Whether it's the placebo effect or not, it's given some interesting results. Maybe music works on the same principle - presenting the brain with a rhythym template that it then sort of copies, producing altered states of mind.

Some of the most spiritual people I know are atheists. A lot of atheists are atheists because they're obsessed enough with religion and spirituality that they've examined all the religions they can find and like them all enough that they can't just choose one and shut out the rest of the spectrum, or they have trouble taking it literally but think there's definitely something deeper. And many (including myself) use the term atheist only because it's an easy convenient label and generally all that people are looking for when they ask what your religion is, whereas discussing your speculations on the Fundamental Nature Of Ultimate Holy Reality generally makes people start looking at their watches in an obvious manner.

[monolith94]

"Surely, if sound can produce complete spiritual abandonment, mere simple vibrations in air, then surely that if anything is proof that God does not exist"

Huh?

[Buck Birdseed]

I mean that if all religious revelation is caused by something analogous to mere vibrations in the air, there's no need for a god in the explanation of it. I wouldn't necessarily say proof, but it's certainly evidence towards the fact.

[Lincoln]

A good way to test the spirits (as opposed to emotion induced by music etc.) is if the spiritual influence is present without the music. I agree that much of what passes as spirituality is simply human emotion. When ever some preachers want to get more in the offering plates they play soft music that makes people believe that they are receiving some spiritual influence to give more money. What a fraud!

[Elok]

Buck: Does our ability to masturbate disprove the existence of love too? Do hallucinations of trees by acid users mean that trees are never real? Our ability to manipulate sensation proves little, disproves even less. Except the fact that we all like to get a little jiggy sometimes.
And I know this is a low blow, but are you sure stroke victims cry because they're moved by the music? Maybe they're thinking, "I can't turn that damned radio off! It's not fair!" or "Man, I wanna dance!"
Yeah, I'm going to hell.